1. Session 2: Key institutions responsible for ocean governance
Panel discussion: Opportunities for cooperation between major stakeholders through their institutional perspectives Merete Tandstad FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department
Policy and frameworks
Fishery governance establishes the overriding principles and objectives of the sector.
It develops the policy and regulatory frameworks for all stakeholders to operate within.
It connects government with civil society, harmonizing individual, sectoral and societal perspectives and maintaining social order and productive socio-ecological systems.
Governance at all levels
Fishery governance is multidimensional: international, national and local.
It includes legally binding rules, such as national policies and legislation or international treaties as well as customary social arrangements.
It is multiscale, covering long-term, strategic, planning as well as short-term operational management and local fisheries as well as whole ecosystems.
It has public, private, and hybrid components that interact in ensuring administration and regulation of the sector.
More environmentally conscious, precautionary and participative forms of fishery governance are emerging from the UNCED process in which the keywords include:, performance assessment, oversight, equity, science and other knowledge, coordination, adaptive, affordable and context sensitive.
Session 2: Key institutions responsible for ocean governance

2. FAO & The Committee on Fisheries (COFI)
FI Mission: To strengthen global governance and the managerial and technical capacities of members and to lead consensus-building towards improved conservation and utilization of aquatic resources.
FAO develops global and regional policy instruments for fisheries, provides global knowledge and technical assistance
COFI, composed of member states, guides the work of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department.
Meets every 2 years
FAO is the mandated UN Agency for Fisheries issues
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.
With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.
FAO has a key mandate in governance, as reflected in the mission statement
With respect to global policy- two recent processes of different nature of relevance broader than fisheries:
PSMA PRESCRIPTIVE AND THE SSF GUIDELINES THAT ARE VERY INCLUSIVE INCOPRPORATE TRADITONAL VALUES AND NON_SATE ACTORS
COFI SETS WORK PROGRAMME
TECHNICAL OR EXPERT CONSULTATIONS ON ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE TO FOOD SECURITY
MANY TOPICS REQUIRE BROADENED PARTICIPATION /EXPERTISE food security- e.g. microplastics
COFI has confirmed the importance of collaboration and encouraged FAO FIA to collaborate with other UN Agencies and contribute to relevant UN processes

3. The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries
EAF is the framework for fisheries management promoted by FAO
EAF planning and implementation should take into account the three dimensions of sustainability (ecological, social and economic).
EAF requires coordination, consultation, cooperation and joint decision-making to achieve sustainable use
Managing human impacts: Fisheries-
“Sustainable” means “fishers and fishing communities can generate sufficient financial resources from their operations to cover basic needs with minimum adverse impact on the ecological system itself”.
Increased recognition of potential impacts of other sectors such as pollution on food security- e.g. microplastics
EAF recognizes that we may need to interact with other sectors to achieve the goals you have set for yourselves-
This requires collaboration
Applied to all scales
EAF recognizes that there may be need to interact with other sectors

4. Regional Fisheries Bodies
RFBs and RFMOs (FAO and non-FAO)
Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) = An organisation with competence under international law to adopt legally binding conservation and management measures for fisheries
Broadened scope of issues they address through EAF
Managing fisheries – includes controlling the activities of vishing vessels, directly related activities and their impacts
Examples of institutional collaboration at regional level exists:
NEAFC and OSPAR- Collective arrangement
MoU between GFCM and the UNEP MAP
Several other dialogues ongoing
Collaboration at Science/Techncial/project level on specific issues and topics
As Gail mentioned there are more than 50 RFBs that promote collaboration between states on fisheries issues at the regional level
Focus RFMOs: : Traditionally Focus on target stocks and bycatches of other commercially important species
Now: Also focus on the effects of the fisheries on other parts of the marine ecosystem and on biodiversity
Broadened scope requires new expertise- benefit of sharing

5. Underlying principles and collaboration ladder
4. Joint measures across sectors and levels
3. Adjustment of behaviour within own sector
2. Common discussions and deliberations, coordinating world views
Information and knowledge sharing (mediation)
Cooperation can imply different types of alignment. Hanssen & al. (2013 and 2014) have developed a "ladder of coordination" to be used as an analytical tool in assessing the types and levels of coordination.
The figure illustrates that each step of this cumulative ladder increases the level of cooperation and mutual dependence between actors, with the lowest level being mutual exchange of information and knowledge.
The second step is deliberation that might lead to coordinated world views.
The optimal coordination level depends on the objectives, problem fields and other contextual factors, as there are costs related to higher levels of coordination.
Most current form of collaboration examples would be at these two steps.
OSPAR-NEAFC COLLABORATION IS PROBABLY AROULEVEL 2 NOT THREE BUT INITIATIVES LIKE SOI ARE MOVING THINGS UP; OTHERS ARE PROBABLY AROUND 1;
Thus it is important to test and recommend the types and levels of coordination that are needed, who are actors, and which are the mechanisms and instruments that are fruitful for ensuring these types of coordination.
Hanssen et al. (2013& 2014)
Recognize different steps of collaboration and that collaboration can be at different levels:
Optimal coordination level depends on objectives, problem fields and other contextual factors